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I had the same situation and my solution was to use Valspar texture paint from Lowes. They have one that is a very fine sand texture that is thick enough to trowel on, but doesn't feel like sandpaper and is fairly subtle when dry. You can also paint over the texture paint with a satin "top coat" to make it even smoother.
I feel very strongly that it did not devalue my house - it was a vast improvement over what had previously been there!
It's less expensive than regular paint, but I will tell you it's tedious. It took me all day to do one small breakfast area. I trowelled it on with a small hand trowel and used an old credit card to get it into tight spots and around corners. But I love it!
I can post a picture of the finished room, if you like - but not sure how helpful it would be because it's an entire room shot with no closeups.
*I would really think twice about sanding drywall that old. Asbestos in the texture as well as lead paint could be a concern.
OH, and Zinnser Gardz would not help you at this point. It is very thin and watery and is for use in between remaining paste and paint, and obviously that layer is already buried.
Last edited by art_teacher_mom; 07-05-2010 at 12:56 PM..
Reason: wanted to add
art teacher mom, thanks for the info and advice, truly appreciated.
Would LOVE to see your room, I always enjoy looking at what people have done to their homes and how they're decorated. I find inspiration and ideas that way as I never seem to have any of my own. I'm an idea stealer
My parents just bought a house built in the 50's, not exactly the same situation but might help. The walls have an outer layer that is about 1/16 of very hard plaster. This finished layer of plaster is so smooth when we went to peel off the wallpaper it also peeled off the paint that was underneath it in parts. At first it was like damn that's going to be a lot of work!
What we found out after some experimenting is most of the paint was easily scraped off with a razor knife scraper so actually it is going to work out nice because it will almost be like starting with new material. It will come off in long strips and won't take a really long time. It's tough getting off where any repairs were made with joint compund but otherwise it comes off pretty easy. Not so sure about glue and this is all assuming you have super smooth walls.
Sure, Eldemila, here is my kitchen/breakfast area that we redid in the texture paint. It had originally been red wallpaper that we took down. Then we tried to paint and had the whole "reactivating the glue" and getting the lumpies. Finally, Valspar fine texture paint to the rescue! (They can even tint it!) Covered the glue and the lumpies. The color we tinted it to is Classic Khaki by Olympic.
Sorry I don't have a better closeup. We don't live there anymore, but we still own it.
Sure, Eldemila, here is my kitchen/breakfast area that we redid in the texture paint. It had originally been red wallpaper that we took down. Then we tried to paint and had the whole "reactivating the glue" and getting the lumpies. Finally, Valspar fine texture paint to the rescue! (They can even tint it!) Covered the glue and the lumpies. The color we tinted it to is Classic Khaki by Olympic.
Sorry I don't have a better closeup. We don't live there anymore, but we still own it.
It looks like it worked well art teacher mom.
Someone put wallpaper over unprimed drywall in our kitchen. We tore off the outer layer of the drywall on one section before we gave up and primed and painted over the wallpaper.
It looks tolerable but the torn up section as well as the wallpaper seams are visible. This sounds like a good solution.
The paper tiger and enzyme didn't work.
Mark
Update: the wife just peered over my shoulder and said it sounds like a lot of work and said we should blow a knock down or orange peel texture on it.
I know the walls aren't actually "lumpy" but I was at a loss for a word that describes the "texture" you have been left with. It sounds like there are bits of backing paper stuck to the wall. Does the majority of the wall have raised areas or is the majority smooth with only some raised areas? This could be your clue as to whether you should raise the level of the low areas by skim coating, or lower the level of the raised areas by sanding.
You said you were concerned that working OVER the paste could come back to haunt you because it might "bubble". If you seal over the present surface of the wall before repainting, the paste will be locked behind the sealer and anything else you put on the wall will never come into contact with it.
I am really looking forward to hearing how you solve this problem so please remember to come back and let us know what you did with it!
Art Teacher Mom, I just like smooth walls. The walls in my own house are terrible so the idea of having nice smooth walls is a big thing to me. There are lots of ways to "embrace" an imperfect wall, but if there is any practical way to repair it, that would be my preference. For the record, I don't know if smooth v. textured walls make any difference at all in the value of a home!
Art Teacher Mom, I just like smooth walls. The walls in my own house are terrible so the idea of having nice smooth walls is a big thing to me. There are lots of ways to "embrace" an imperfect wall, but if there is any practical way to repair it, that would be my preference. For the record, I don't know if smooth v. textured walls make any difference at all in the value of a home!
I agree that well done smooth walls are real purdy! (That's my southern accent coming out.)
From what I've seen, texture on walls is a very regional thing. I know it takes a skilled hand and more $ to get a wall perfectly smooth, so not many do that here in Texas.
I could also see how badly done texture paint could devalue a house. I was just saying mine was so fabulous that it didn't! LOL Ok, don't look that close. Back up.
We have some really bad DIY texture here in our new home's bathrooms. The previous owner got creative and tried to do their own "skip troweling" (A very heavy criss cross texture that seems to be popular here.) It does NOT look good!
I'm thinking we're just going to have to remove the sheetrock and start fresh in those rooms!
Art Teacher Mom, beautiful kitchen! It looks like it's staged for a magazine. Does it always look like it's right out of a decore mag?? Thanks for sharing.
Decorchallenged, I'll have to take a gander when I get back up there as to what the majority of the walls look like and let you know.
Was wondering though, if I end up wanting to wallpaper the walls in question, would the paste and wallpaper hide the imperfections already there? The areas that need help aren't that big and I did think about possibly wallpapering, so I wonder if that may be the way to go instead if I find something I truly like????? I know there's wallpaper that's thick that you can paint over and that would probably do the trick, but I saw some regular wallpaper and wonder how that would look?
Anyone???
Will definitely update more when I get up there, beginning of August can't come fast enough for me!!!
...we have some really bad DIY texture here in our new home's bathrooms. The previous owner got creative and tried to do their own "skip troweling" (A very heavy criss cross texture that seems to be popular here.) It does NOT look good!
I'm thinking we're just going to have to remove the sheetrock and start fresh in those rooms!
That's stuff is awful looking.
Other than the texture paint or texturing itself I only see two options: Installing new 1/4" (or is it 3/8?) thin drywall over the top of the existing wall or skim coating the existing wall.
Skim coating sounds like the best option. I understand it's possible to level and smooth drywall with a wet sponge (rather than sand paper) to keep from making a huge mess.
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